compensation – Page 3

April 26, 2020June 29, 2023

A coronavirus DOL settlement of a Families First Coronavirus Response Act case

employment law, labor law, overtime records

It did not take long for the Department of Labor to announce its first-ever settlement of a claimed violation of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act.

The DOL’s press release provides the details:

Bear Creek Electrical – an electrical company based in Tucson, Arizona – will pay one employee $1,600 for refusing to provide him sick leave under the newly passed Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act after health care providers ordered him to self-quarantine with potential coronavirus symptoms.
WHD investigators found that Bear Creek Electrical failed to pay the employee for what qualified as paid sick leave covering the hours he spent at home after the company received documentation of his doctor’s instructions to self-quarantine. The employer will pay the employee’s full wages of $20 an hour for 80 hours of leave.… Bear Creek Electrical also agreed to future compliance with the FFCRA, which went into effect on April 1, 2020.
“This case should serve as a signal to others that the U.S. Department of Labor is working to protect employee rights during the coronavirus pandemic,” said Wage and Hour District Director Eric Murray in Phoenix, Arizona.

You’ve been warned. If you are not providing your employees the paid coronavirus leave to which they are entitled, the DOL is watching.

April 1, 2020June 29, 2023

The rise of the sick, distressed and oppressed worker

Why does it take an international pandemic that costs tens of thousands of lives to reveal the worst in some employers and government leaders who put themselves ahead of the welfare of workers?

OK, that broke one of Rick’s cardinal rules of writing: Never lead your story with a question. But in this case, I think a question, rhetorical as it is, embellishes the senseless selfishness of some of the world’s largest and wealthiest corporations that treat its workers as if they are nothing more than disposable widgets.

Let’s start with Amazon, which of course owns Whole Paycheck — oops, upscale grocery chain Whole Foods. According to the Wall Street Journal, a Whole Foods workers group urged employees to call in sick on March 31 after seeking health care coverage for its part-time workers and paid leave for all workers who must isolate or self-quarantine as a result of coronavirus. Whole Foods employees also sought improved workplace safety measures including hazard pay and sick pay for employees who may be sick but haven’t been tested for the coronavirus.

We’ve seen a similar corporate insensitivity on the part of grocery delivery service Instacart. Some employees stayed off the job March 30 demanding greater pay and better access to disinfectant and paid leave.

Really, Instacart and Amazon, is it asking too much to provide these workers with more humane working conditions? You’ve both amassed fortunes on the backs of these low-paid employees. As you and dozens of other retailers desperately seek to hire thousands of new employees, providing them with a bottle of hand sanitizer and paid leave if they are sick is the least you could do for your workers who are being lauded nationwide as heroes.

And frankly, it never occurred to me just a few short weeks ago as Instacart shoppers scurried past me filling brown paper bags with spaghetti sauce and Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal that these workers would be risking their health and safety for customers. I’m guessing it never crossed their minds, either.

Yet here we find ourselves. As an insidious virus ravages our population, we now come face-to-face with an age-old standoff between labor and employer. I won’t quite say that the downtrodden workers will throw off their chains and “expropriate the expropriators,” but these companies need to quickly understand that the coronavirus is creating a radically new workplace.

While it’s just mind-boggling to consider hazard pay for hourly grocery store employees, the sad reality is these people are on the front lines spending hour after hour, day after day restocking shelves and being downright pleasant to customers — any one of whom could be a ticking time bomb spreading COVID-19.

In fact, big-box grocer Costco is among the companies (Target and Walmart, too) that are temporarily doling out extra money to its employees. Costco is paying $2 more per hour from March 2 to April 5 for its U.S. workers.

But even that temporary perk comes at a price. A family member employed by Kirkland, Washington-based Costco now understandably lives in fear of contracting the virus.

She was extremely grateful when the memo came from corporate leaders about the temporary bump in pay. Three weeks later, however, it was clear that working in an essential job among the public was taking an emotional toll on her.

She was literally crying the other night as she told me that she knows two people who have died from the deadly virus. The reality that it lurks in any customer she comes in contact with has set in.

The bump in pay was appreciated, but what is the cost? The physical toll on first responders has been apparent for several weeks. We are just now awakening to the mental and emotional anguish these employees are revealing. I doubt any retail employee ever envisioned themselves as a first responder.

As my colleague Andie Burjek so adeptly penned recently, “COVID-19 clearly has severe and potentially deadly physical symptoms. But that doesn’t mean mental health is something that can be sidelined for now.”

I don’t think I am overstating here, but governments and employers across the globe need to set aside their differences and undertake drastic measures to salve the emotional and physical needs of workers. As New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said recently, COVID-19 is colorblind.

“This virus doesn’t discriminate — it attacks everyone, and it attacks everywhere,” Cuomo stated March 30. “There are no red states, and there are no blue states, and there are no red casualties, and there are no blue casualties. It is red, white and blue. If there was ever a moment for unity, this is it.”

I opened this post with a question so I’ll close with one, too.

Is unity among government and business leaders to ease the burden on the world’s working people too much to ask?

March 31, 2020June 29, 2023

Coronavirus Update: Employers, PLEASE don’t take your employees’ stimulus checks

One employer is an anomaly, two is a trend that must be stopped.

Last week, I nominated for the Worst Employer of 2020 an unnamed national restaurant chain that was reported to be stealing (the company called it “absorbing”) its employees’ CARES Act stimulus checks by reducing their scheduled hours in a pro-rata amount.

Now, another employer has been outed with similar plans.

According to KXAN, an unnamed national company advised its employees that it would be preemptively deducting funds from their paychecks based on the amount each employee anticipated receiving in their stimulus check.

The worker said his company emailed a form titled “Employee Acknowledgement of ‘Government Assistance’ Pay Reduction” to some staffers on Wednesday. “In response to the economic crisis that is affecting all of us due to the coronavirus pandemic…(company name redacted) are hereby enacting the Employee Emergency Compensation Fund,” the letter stated.

The agreement would put workers under a “temporary compensation reduction that is in line with the assistance that it receives from the federal government related to the COVID-19 pandemic.” By signing the agreement, the company’s employees would have their paychecks between April 6 and April 20 cut by 100% of any money received under the stimulus bill.

The company would also take half of the $500 stipend allotted for dependents under the bill.

The Lost Ogle identified the company as Oklahoma City-based ImageNet Consulting, and further reported that after public outcry it has delayed the plan. The company’s President/CEO Pat Russell sent the following email to his employees:

As a result of the few inquiries we have this week, I wanted to make the following points of clarification with regard to the Employee Emergency Compensation Program that was announced and specifically for those employees who have not already sacrificed with immediate pay reductions.

First, the plan will not go into effect until the earliest of April 6th and, there will be no pay reduction for the paycheck received on that date.

Second, it appears that Congress is very close to passing sweeping legislation to provide relief to companies like ours and to individuals. … If we can determine ways to minimize the amount of sacrifice that we have asked everyone to make, we will do so and amend the plan accordingly.

That last paragraph is his email is really important. The CARES Act contains key payroll and other relief to small and mid-size businesses, known as the Paycheck Protection Program. It allocates $350 billion to businesses with less than 500 employees through low interest (and, in some cases, fully forgivable) loans to help pay payroll, rent and utilities.

There are ways to keep your business operational and solvent without “absorbing” your employees’ stimulus checks. They need that money to live. Moreover, in the very same Act that makes those stimulus checks available, the government also makes available for businesses Paycheck Protection Program loans. Use those loans to help your business stay afloat during these trying and difficult times. Don’t absorb the money that’s meant specifically for your employees. It’s just plain wrong.

For more information on how your business can obtain funds through the Paycheck Protection Program, contact me and I’ll put you in touch with an attorney on our Coronavirus Response Team.

March 25, 2020June 29, 2023

Most companies commit to paying hourly workers who test positive for COVID-19

There’s some good news for hourly workers as worries escalate regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.

A new survey by Willis Towers Watson revealed that 72 percent of employers in North America are committing to pay hourly workers who test positive for the coronavirus.

The survey, which was released March 23, also stated that 54 percent of those employers agree to compensate hourly workers whose workplace experiences a mandated closure and 51 percent will pay those hourly workers who have a cold or flu-like symptoms and voluntarily stay home.

Also read: The impact of COVID-19 on hourly and low-wage workers

However, just 36 percent of companies will continue paying hourly workers when they stay home because they don’t have child care.

According to the Willis Towers Watson’s “COVID-19 Hourly Employee Pay Practices Survey,” which was conducted during the week of March 16, most organizations that will continue to pay hourly employees plan to do so for 10 to 15 days. The average organization will do so for 14 days at 100 percent of their current base rate, the survey stated, adding that it will vary based on the circumstances.

Also read: Scheduling headaches: How to better manage your hourly workers’ schedules

Organizations agree to pay employees under these conditions:

For employees with a confirmed COVID-19 case, 87 percent will pay hourly workers 100 percent of their current rate.
For employees whose workplace experiences a mandated closure, 94 percent will pay them 100 percent of their current rate.
For employees with a cold or flu-like symptoms who voluntarily stay home, 92 percent will pay them their full pay rate.

Some 44 percent will pay employees who can’t perform their duties at home but are involuntarily required to stay home due to quarantine at either 100 percent or less of their current rate without them having to draw from their paid time off, the survey stated.

Most employers (75 percent) don’t have plans to provide special treatment to employees who report to work when other employees are required to stay away from work.

However, more than 10 percent of employers have plans or are considering a range of options to recognize these employees, including adjusted (situational) overtime, additional paid time off to be used after COVID-19-related disruption and other forms of recognition.

Of the 805 companies, 56 percent of which were multinationals, participated in the Willis Towers Watson COVID-19 Hourly Employee Pay Practices Survey.

It is clear that most employers are standing by their hourly employees, at least in the short term, said Adrienne Altman, managing director, North America lead, Rewards, Willis Towers Watson.

“While many employers are still working to determine their overall strategy for responding to COVID-19, we see consistency in how they plan to manage pay for the affected portions of their hourly workforce,” Altman stated in a release regarding the survey.

Offer: COVID-19 is rapidly changing how businesses operate. We recognize that organizations need an extra helping hand right now. So we’re offering our GPS clock in tool for free to new sign-ups over the coming months. Sign up today and our Workforce Success team will provide a personal, online walkthrough of our platform to help you get started. It can be fully deployed in 1-2 days.

March 25, 2020June 29, 2023

The 5th nominee for the Worst Employer of 2020 is … the coronavirus stimulus snatcher

Can we just close the poll now and announce today’s nominee the winner?

If anyone can verify the identity of this employer I’d love to know who it is.

Alison Green, over at Ask a Manager, provides the truly awful details.

I work in an administrative role at a national restaurant chain.

I just got off of a conference call with corporate in which they told us that if the U.S. government sends us the proposed stimulus checks due to Covid 19, they plan to absorb the money we receive by cutting our hours to reflect that amount. In other words, if each person receives a check for $1,200, $1,200 will effectively go back to the company. Is this legal?

Legal? Yes.*

Morally repugnant and disgustingly reprehensible? Also, yes.

There is no reason (other than flat-out greed and corporate gluttony) to “absorb” an employee’s stimulus check by reducing working hours in a pro-rata amount. It is just the worst, given the current state of health and financial crisis in which we find ourselves.

If you know of an employer doing awful coronavirus-related things to its employees, please let me know by contacting me or by leaving a comment below. I’d like to think that we are better than this, but sadly I know that many are not. And those that aren’t should be held accountable.

* Note: Employers cannot dock the pay of exempt employees for hours not worked in a week without jeopardizing the employee’s exemption, along with the exemption of employees in the same job classification working for the same managers (subject to limited exceptions).

Previous nominees:

The 1st Nominee for the Worst Employer of 2020 Is … the Repeat, Repeat Offender

The 2nd nominee for Worst Employer of 2020 is … the Uncaring Chief

The 3rd nominee for the Worst Employer of 2020 is … the Arresting Retaliator

The 4th nominee for the Worst Employer of 2020 is … the Perverted Peking-duck Purveyor

March 17, 2020July 24, 2024

How do I compensate hourly workers during the coronavirus pandemic?

No doubt there are lots of questions regarding compensation for hourly employees during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Many employers want to do right by their hourly workers and offer them fair compensation while they temporarily shutter their workplace or curtail operations. Meanwhile, there are uncertainties regarding who gets paid and who doesn’t.

One valuable resource that offers clarity for employers regarding hourly employees is on the Department of Labor website. The comprehensive “U.S. Department of Labor Issues Workplace Guidelines for Coronavirus Outbreak, Including Specific Guidance on FMLA, FLSA and FECA” provides detailed information valuable for remaining in compliance as well as offering insight to compensating employees.

Under the Fair Labor Standards Act direction is this guidance:

Pay to Non-Exempt Employees During Business Closures. Under the FLSA, employers are obligated to pay non-exempt employees only for the hours worked, not hours the employee otherwise would have worked if the employer’s business had not closed. If telecommuting or working from home is provided as a reasonable accommodation, the employer must pay non-exempt workers the minimum wage, and at least time and one half the regular rate of pay for overtime hours, for hours telecommuting or working from home. For more information on this topic, please see our previous post on employers’ considerations in response to coronavirus (available here).

Kate Bischoff, a Minneapolis-based employment attorney and HR consultant, suggested that employers first must decide what positions are crucial to maintaining operations.

“Then, there’s really no good way to go about it,” Bischoff said. “Fairness would dictate that you furlough/lay off the part-timers first, then the least senior, but there’s no good way.”

Also read: Solving the concern over clean time clocks with a mobile solution

Other considerations include what to do about volunteers, she added, and those who may be in the high-risk groups (over 60 or with pre-existing conditions).

“But make sure there isn’t a disparate impact on any protected group more than others, like married people, minorities and women. We’re in uncharted waters,” Bischoff said.

According to a spokeswoman for Portland, Oregon-based Think HR, employers and managers may offer paid time off to those employees who are unable to work due to a decrease in business, and they may select whom to offer this PTO to based on seniority, full-time status, employee classification, or job type.

“There are no hard and fast rules for deciding what groups to include or where to draw the line on tenure,” she said. “Employers, however, should take care not to violate (or appear to violate) anti-discrimination law, and they may want to consider how their decision will affect employee morale presently and in the future. Employers should also keep in mind that pay requirements may change as new laws are passed in response to the pandemic.”

Insurance and risk-management consultancy Gallagher just released its guidance on Coronavirus Pandemic Preparedness that includes five steps to minimize business disruption and safeguard employees.

“As pandemics spread it is important now, more than ever, to have an actionable business plan in place to help guide your employees and your business through the uncertainty of pandemics,” the report states.

Cleanliness is a given.

If employees must clock in at the workplace,keep the keyboard or time clock as clean as possible.

Employers working with Chicago-based employment law attorney William R. Pokorny are taking a variety of different approaches.

“Those that have some amount of paid time off or paid sick leave, either employer-based or as required by state and local paid sick leave laws, are for now having people use their available leave,” Pokorny said. “Some are extending additional leave — for example, 14 days — specific to the coronavirus situation. The leave is generally paid out based on the employee’s regularly scheduled work hours, so someone who usually works 20 hours in a week would get 20 hours of sick leave for a week. It varies widely by employer.”

Bischoff added that even employers trying to do the right thing for their hourly workers may not be doing enough.

“Trying to do the right thing is hard at this point,” she said. “Employers need to do what they can for their people.”

March 17, 2020June 29, 2023

Scheduling headaches: How to better manage your hourly workers’ schedules

time clock, workforce management, scheduling, time and attendance

When it comes to scheduling hourly workers, time really is money. Managers and executives may recognize the significance of employee scheduling. Still, it can seem like an impossible task. Maintaining a fair and functional schedule that keeps everyone happy is a full-time job all on its own. Scheduling more than 100 hourly workers may be a burden for both the managers that spend hours trying to create these schedules every week and for the employees who don’t always get the schedule they wanted.

Knowing exactly how to schedule employees isn’t easy. And there are many last-minute changes that occur, such as split shifts and requests for time off. Emergencies, such as employees calling in sick or needing their hours covered also need to be taken into consideration as extra time that managers will inevitably spend on trying to manage a cohesive schedule, said Leon Pearce, lead software engineer at Workforce.

“Schedules are never complete, they’re constantly changing. Managing the lifecycle of schedules takes some pretty good tools to do it well,” Pearce said.

Also read: On-shift scheduling doesn’t have to be a headache for managers or employees

Matt Fairhurst, chief executive officer of Skedulo, a mobile workforce management platform, said that tackling these continuous challenges is organized chaos. “The complexity of scheduling hourly workers is mind-boggling, and the chaos grows exponentially beyond 50 workers,” Fairhurst said in an email statement. “It’s a living, breathing, ever-evolving puzzle that never quite gets solved.”

Fair workweek laws are something else to be aware of when creating hourly schedules, Fairhurst said. It’s smart for managers to do some research and ensure that the company is in compliance with local fair workweek laws, which right now are in flux.

“A large part of managing the hourly workforce is not just managing and communicating schedules, but helping establish and comply with work conditions, constraints and rules that help govern fair working practices, fatigue management and more,” Fairhurst said. “It’s important for systems managing the working week of any hourly employee to have the capability to ensure these constraints are understood, respected and optimized for.”

Employee scheduling software can help make sure that the schedule continues to work best for both the employees and the business by tracking time off requests, shift trades, availability changes, overtime and projected sales all in one place. This saves managers time and gives employees more control over their work lives. “It leads to having a more engaged and happier staff, because they’re more likely to be working the hours that they wanted, which is the best case for everyone,” Pearce said. “It also gives a lot of time back to the managers and allows them to focus more on the actual business as opposed to the administration type of tasks.”

Also read: The use of technology in managing burnout in your hourly workforce

Mike Zorn, VP of Work Strategy at WorkJam

It’s beneficial for employers to make scheduling more flexible and give employees a greater say in what their schedules look like, according to Mike Zorn, vice president of work strategy at WorkJam, an employee engagement app for the hourly workforce. “Giving people the ability to swap schedules is critical,” Zorn said. “If you give people the ability to pick up schedules when they want to work, you’re less likely to have turnover because they’re making a commitment to that time rather than the manager telling them [when to work].”

Managers should develop a self-service mentality to relieve themselves from the tedious scheduling tasks in order to put more valuable time into their responsibilities that will ultimately help the business succeed, according to Zorn.

“It takes the manager away from those critical things that a manager should be doing, which is inspiring people, coaching people and making sure the strategies are being produced,” he said. “Anything that takes away from the key things that a manager should be doing is detrimental to the overall business.”

February 7, 2020June 29, 2023

Labor issues when you acquire a company with a union

Spotify recently announced that it is acquiring The Ringer, one of the most prolific and popular podcasting networks.

Spotify also indicated that it intends to hire all of The Ringer’s 90 employees, most of whom work on theringer.com, which covers sports and culture and which Spotify indicates it will keep up and running.

Last summer, 66 of those 90 employees signed union-authorization cards stating their support for the Writers Guild of America East to represent them as their collective bargaining representative. Shortly thereafter, The Ringer management voluntarily recognized the Guild as the union representative for its employees.

What does this mean for Spotify? Is it acquiring a labor union as part of its purchase of The Ringer? Like most legal questions, the answer depends on a number of factors.
The primary question relates to the structure of the deal itself. Is it a stock purchase or an asset purchase?

If it’s a stock purchase — the buyer is acquiring all of the stock of the seller — this issue is much easier to solve. In a stock purchase, the buyer stands in the place of the seller and becomes responsible for all of the seller’s obligations, including its union-related obligations and any existing collective bargaining agreements. In other words, if Spotify purchased all of the stock of The Ringer, then Spotify is almost certainly acquiring its union and related obligations.

The fact that Spotify said that it intends to hire all of The Ringer’s employees, however, makes me think this deal is an asset purchase and not a stock purchase. And in an asset purchase, these issues are much more complex.

In an asset deal, the buyer assumes some, but not necessarily all, of the seller’s union-related obligations, but only if the buyer is a “successor employer.” A buyer is deemed to be a successor employer when it continues the predecessor’s business and hires a majority of its employees from the predecessor’s union employees.

A successor-buyer must recognize and bargain with the union, but it does not necessarily adopt the predecessor’s collective bargaining agreement. Instead, the buyer is usually free to set its own initial terms and conditions of employment before bargaining in good faith to a new collective bargaining agreement (as long as the buyer does not mislead employees into believing they will be re-hired without changes to their terms and conditions of employment, which will lock the buyer into the old agreement).

What I hope you take away from today’s post is the complexity of these issues. If you are involved in the sale or purchase of a business that has unionized employees, you absolutely need to involve labor counsel in the deal so that the parties understand what union-related rights are being bought and sold.

February 5, 2020June 29, 2023

Pay equity doesn’t mean paying the same for everyone

In 2018, 40 states put through legislation on pay equity practices.

There is no shortage of laws that give all people the right to be free from discrimination in compensation, including the Equal Pay Act of 1963, Title VIl of the Civil Rights Act of 1965, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, and Title I of the ADA Act of 1990.

Pay equity is a critical issue for our time. It’s proven to drive profits for companies that support it. So why is it taking legislation to get companies to move towards a more fair and equitable pay system?

Perhaps it’s the misperception that pay equity means treating everyone the same way. But equal doesn’t mean fair. The goal of pay equity is not to treat everyone the same — it’s actually just the opposite. You can treat people fairly and still treat them differently. Factors such as educational background, tenure, skill, quality of work, etc., are all variables that can, and should, be factored into the mix. But, biases based on personal attributes, such as race, gender, age, disability, sexual orientation and more, are variables that should not affect pay.

Pay equity is equal pay for work of equal value. It is also used to describe pay comparisons where there is no unexplained difference pay, and that is not the result of defensible and legitimate factors. Therefore, pay inequity is any difference in pay that is unexplained, or not the result of defensible and legitimate factors.

According to the World Economic Forum Global Gender Gap Report for 2018, which benchmarks 149 countries on their progress toward gender parity, the US ranked No. 51 in the world. We can do better. By comparison, Iceland, Norway and Sweden occupy the top three spots. And, although many countries have achieved important milestones toward gender parity, much still needs to be done.

Pay equity includes total compensation — including overtime pay, bonuses, stock grants, profit sharing and bonus plans, and yes, life insurance, PTO and holiday pay, travel allowances, reimbursement for travel expenses. However, we need to remember all the processes that result in a worker paycheck, including promotions, performance reviews, merit raises, access to the CEO and representation on the leadership team since they all can impact pay differences over time.

And, while individual organizations have their own formulas for fair and equitable compensation, everyone will benefit by evaluating pay equity in the broader ecosystem. Solving pay equity comes from organizations and their leaders who take ownership of culture, pay programs and total rewards.

The first step is for organizations to be willing to take a look at their own data and processes. And then be willing to acknowledge it if there are issues around pay equity and work to solve for it. Some may desire to make their process and findings public inside their companies, and then share the plan to monitor it regularly to ensure continued pay equity.

Here are three things to get started:

Analyze average pay of people within an organization to find patterns. Start by role-to-role comparisons, then group to group, the protected classes.
Evaluate the hiring processes to ascertain diversity of teams and the ways in which your process results in a wide range of candidates.
Evaluate the processes which reward, promote, and give feedback to your workforce. Are they equitable or did the majority of raises go to one gender, racial, or age group?

To solve for pay equity issues we must look closely at representation. We need more women, people of color, and the LGBTQ community in leadership positions such as on corporate boards. According to Heidrick & Struggles, men hold 93 percent of the CEO positions in U.S. companies. Further research from ISS Analytics found that the percentage of female directors is just 24 percent in the United States.

Total rewards programs include anything that signals to the employee that they are important. The most effective total rewards programs are enacted through the lens of inclusion and take into consideration representation from under represented groups.

It’s also critical to be transparent as to how rewards are given out and how employees can navigate the system. Today, most employees do not have any idea how their pay packages are put together. An organization’s goal is transparency so that people understand how to navigate the culture and achieve their potential at work, which affords them the chance to have a great life.

For example, ACIPCO, an international provider of clean energy technology and services, provides quarterly profit sharing, an on-site health care facility and rewards workers for good tips/suggestions. They also give access to the company plane and yacht when employees need it — and this is not based on hierarchy, everyone gets access. It’s no wonder that they consistently land on Fortune’s 100 Best Companies to Work For and, in an industry where turnover is 80- to 100 percent, they have less than .05 percent a year.

Starbucks offers free Spotify premium and free online classes at Arizona State University and, of course, free coffee. Netflix offers one-year parental leave and Salesforce.com provides commuter benefits, educational reimbursement, refinancing of student debt and 24-hour travel assistance.

Because of the impact on culture, customers, and on the regulatory environment, it’s vitally important that attention to this comes from the C-suite, not just from HR. The critical role for HR is to observe, rebuild systems, make sure the data is accurate and challenge the C-suite and the existing ways of doing things to be the champion of the people experience.

Here are the takeaways:

Don’t shy away from the issue of pay equity. Embrace its importance and build processes around the issue rather than waiting for federal or state laws to dictate what you need to do.
Analyze and understand current plans that are in place. If a woman or minority is disadvantaged from the start of employment, that’s a problem that will grow exponentially.
Consistently look at and monitor the process, review it and test it.
Assess gaps from these measurements and make changes accordingly.
Institute transparency between employees and leadership so that you’re setting the narrative and telling your own story rather than allowing social sharing to drive it and derail it.

In short, paying people fairly is a great idea for many reasons and a great business practice. Don’t be afraid to look at your own pay equity issues. It’s better to be in the know.

The result is a boost in reputation, the ability to recruit the best talent and to provide employees the ability to maximize their contributions to the organization.

January 29, 2020June 29, 2023

Chipotle settlement highlights child labor issues

According to CNN, Chipotle has agreed to pay a $1.3 million fine for more than 13,000 child labor violations at over 50 of its Massachusetts restaurants.

The state’s attorney general’s office accused the company of forcing teenagers to work without proper work permits, late into the night, and for too many hours per day and week. It’s the largest child labor penalty in Massachusetts history.

Writing at Inc.com, Suzanne Lucas (aka the Evil HR Lady) makes the excellent point that these failings fall squarely on the shoulders of management.

Employees, even adult employees, aren’t expected to know and comply with all labor laws. … It’s not up to a 17-year-old to clock out no later than 9:59 pm. It’s the manager’s responsibility to make sure it happens. This can be difficult for managers—and can require some complicated scheduling or hiring more adults than teenagers. Some teens want to work more hours and are happy to keep their mouths shut. It doesn’t change the law around it. Managers need training on the law and how it differs between adults and minor employees.

So what are the rule of the road for child workers? Each state’s laws differs. Here’s what Ohio law says on the issue.

Ages 14 and 15

When school is in session: i) they cannot work between the hours of 7 p.m. and 7 a.m.; ii) they cannot work for more than 3 hours on any school day; and iii) they cannot work more than 18 hours during any school week

When school is out of session: i) they cannot work between the hours of 9 p.m. and 7 a.m.; ii) they cannot work more than 8 hours per day; and iii) they cannot work more than 40 hours per week.

Ages 16 and 17

When school is in session: i) 11 p.m. before a school day to 7 a.m. on a school day (6 a.m. if not employed after 8 p.m. the previous night); and there are no limits on hours worked per day or week.

When school is not in session, there are no limits on starting or ending times, or hours worked per day or week.

Unlike adult workers, all minors are required to have a 30-minute uninterrupted break when working for more than five consecutive hours.

Prohibited Occupations

All minors are prohibited from working in the following occupations:
Slaughtering, meat-packing, processing rendering
Operation of power-driven slicers; bakery machines; paper product machines; metal forming; punching or shearing machines; circular and band saws; guillotine shears; woodworking machines
Manufacture of brick, tile, and kindred products
Manufacture and storage of chemicals or explosives, or exposure to radioactive and ionizing radiation substances
Coal mining and mining other than coal
Logging and sawmilling
Motor vehicle, railroads, maritime, and longshoreman occupations
Excavation operations, wrecking, demolition, and shipbreaking
Power-driven and hoisting apparatus equipment
Roofing operations

Additional Prohibited Occupations for 14- and 15-Year-Olds

Manufacturing and warehouse occupations (except office and clerical work)
Public messenger services occupations
Work in freezers; meat coolers and all preparations of meats for sale (except wrapping, sealing labeling, weighing, pricing, and stocking)
Transportation; storage, communications, public utilities; construction and repair
Work in boilers or engine rooms; maintenance or repair of machinery
Outside window washing from window sills, scaffolding, ladders or their substitutes
Cooking, baking, operating, setting up, adjusting, cleaning, oiling, or repairing power-driven food slicers, grinders, food choppers cutters, baker type mixers
Loading or unloading goods to and from trucks, railroad cars or conveyors
Work with cars and trucks involving pits, racks, or lifting apparatus
Inflation of tires mounted on rimes equipped with a removable retaining ring
For-profit door-to-door employment (unless the employer is registered with the Ohio Dept. of Commerce Division of Labor & Worker Safety)

As one can imagine, the Department of Labor and state attorney general offices take child labor violations very seriously. Just ask Chipotle. And ignorance is no excuse.